Collaborative learning can be an intuitive process that takes place spontaneously when two or more students, for example, are working together on a homework exercise. But it can also be a conscious an guided learning process in which shared knowledge is created and transmitted while working towards achieving common learning goals[1]. How to make the step towards conscious collaborative learning effective?
Spontaneous collaborative efforts happen as a result of a perceived necessity to gather ideas, to test and synthesize them with others. It can derive from a formal necessity, for example a group exercise in which cooperation beyond formality is indispensable to achieve good results. In my practice, moot court competitions are cases in point, essentially driven by student motivation to achieve a certain result which is perceived as beneficial to their future careers but not necessarily resulting in a grade. The acquired experience, skills, publicity and networks weigh up the aspect of formal assessment and make the effort worthwhile. In moot courts, the scope of interpretation is broad and the role of any facilitator strictly limited to support rather than ‘teaching’, not to mention ‘grading’.
In a class teaching environment, student motivation is often (perhaps more often than not) directed at the final grade of the course. I assume that the components of collaborative learning are, in this setting, somewhat less likely to appear spontaneously, at least among the student group as a whole. For effectiveness, student engagement in the collaborative learning practices is therefore, paramount.
Engagement is both a proxy for learning and an end in itself – ‘a fundamental purpose of education'[2]. How to achieve engagement among students in collaborative learning? What to avoid? During this week, we have been familiarised with empirical evidence on the causes of frustration in collaborative learning practices. Frustration is a common negative sentiment associated with online studies and can be provoked by many aspects related to online learning, such as unshared goals in the group, problems related to communication and negotiation skills, imbalance in the quality of individual contributions, etc.; it has been shown to be overwhelmingly most prevalent with regard to imbalance in the level of commitment, responsibility, and effort[3]. In other words, the success of collaborative learning is determined by a sense of equality and fairness in the group and some level of presence of a teacher/instructor/facilitator.
Clear communication must be they key to both achieving engagement and avoiding the pitfalls, such as frustration with collaborative learning as a method altogether. In collaborative learning, knowledge is created by common activity but its success depends greatly on the concscious efforts of the teacher to understand the process as well as the group of learners. Whereas spontaneous collaborative learning is facilitated by student motivation, using collaborative learning methods in class presses high demands on the teacher in creating a trustful learning environment, assembling groups as well as designing suitable methods of assessment to diminish a sense of frustration which could be detrimental to achieving trust in collaborative learning as an approach to learning.
References
[1] Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M. & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3), available at http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/675/1271.
[2] Shulman, L. S. (2002). Making differences: A table of learning. Change 34(6), 36-44.
[3] Capdeferro, N. & Romero, M. (2012). Are online learners frustrated with collaborative learning experiences?. The International review of research in open and distance learning, 13(2), 26-44, available at http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1127/2129.
